Understanding History as a Discipline

History as a Discipline

• History is commonly defined as "the past", a collection of people, places and events.
• History is an attempt to understand causes, consequences, changes, and continuity.
• History is the study of the past to understand the present and serve as a guide for the future.
• Studying history provides a guide for public action, especially when encountering other nations or groups.
• Awareness of history allows for interpreting the world and make informed decisions.

Historians

• Historians investigate the past and write about it.
• They weigh evidence.
• They interpret actions and decisions.
• They consider events and issues from multiple perspectives.
• Historians determine bias and prejudice.
• Historians solve problems.
• Historians predict outcomes and identify themes, trends, and make conclusions.
• History considers the fluid and dynamic human variables, while math and science study the physical world.
• Understanding the past can explain the present, and knowing the past guides the future.
• Historical thinking involves establishing significance, using evidence, identifying changes and continuity, analyzing cause and consequence, and taking historical perspectives, and making ethical or moral judgments.

Evaluating Historical Evidence

• Historical thinking involves how evidence is used.
• When using evidence, historians must critically evaluate its reliability.
• Factors affecting reliability include if the document is a primary or secondary source, its bias, if it's point of view is limited, or if it is contradicted by other evidence.

Types of Historical Documents

• Primary sources are original sources of information such as diaries, photographs, news reports, letters, speeches, court records, interviews, surveys, and fieldwork.
• They include sets of data like census statistics that have been tabulated but not interpreted.
• Secondary sources analyze or describe primary sources such as books and articles that interpret or review research.
• Tertiary sources describe or analyze secondary sources.
• Examples include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and textbooks.

Bias and Point of View

• The reliability of historical evidence can be influenced by the biases or point of view of the person who created it.
• Bias is a preconceived way of interpreting information.
• Bias reflects the influence of beliefs and values on how someone views history, and it can lead to unfair interpretations.
• Point of view is determined by one's role, perspective, or affiliations, influencing how events are interpreted.

Corroborating vs Conflicting Evidence

• The value of evidence (primary or secondary) is measured by agreement across other sources.
• Corroborating evidence occurs when two sources provide similar or supporting information.
• Corroborating evidence enhances the reliability of the documents.
• Contradicting evidence, when two sources conflict, has a noticeably negative impact on the reliability of the sources.

Historical Literacy Skills

• Historical literacy skills include sourcing, contextualization, corroboration, and close reading.
• Sourcing involves understanding if a person is biased and reading and analyzing the account carefully.
• Sourcing encourages students to measure how an author's perspectives and motives affect their interpretation of events.
• Contextualization helps comprehend the complete picture of the historical event.

Contextualization

• Contextualization uses background information to draw more meaning from documents.
• It helps infer historical context, recognize documents as reflections of a moment in time, and understand words in a larger context.
• Corroboration means supporting material or evidence, and it might be weak if contradictory.
• Corroboration encourages classifying opposing views and testimonies.
• Close reading involves analyzing historical material.
• Close reading encourages students to deeply absorb the text by constructing words and sentences for meaning.
• It involves establishing truth by comparing documents and recognizing disparities.

Events of the Philippine Islands

• The "Sucecos de Las Islas Filipinas" was written by Dr. Antonio de Morga, and was published in Mexico on April 7, 1609.
• This work identifies the islands adjacent to Asia as belonging to the Crown of Spain.
• These are called "The Islands of the West" by those sailing through the Castile demarcation line.
• These are called "Oriental Islands" by those navigating through India of Portugal.
• Philippine Islands are numerous, large, and small, and lie within the tropics.
• They are subject to the Crown of Castile.
• The Islands extend from 24 degrees North latitude to 12 degrees South latitude.
• The ancients claim that most of these Islands were deserted and uninhabitable, but this is inaccurate.
• They count with good temperature, many people, food supplies, favorable to life, minerals, metals, animals and plants and are not shown laxity.
• Totality of Islands, both large and small = innumerable.

Topography

• Approximately 46 large islands, without any smaller ones exist These main islands include Luzon, Mindoro, Tendaya, Capul, Burias, Masbate, Mairnduque, Leyte, Samar, Ibabao, Cebu, Panay, Bohol, Catanduanes, Calamianes and Mindanao.
• Cebu was the first island conquered by the Spanish.
• Cebu began the conquest in all other surrounding islands.
• The residents were Visayans or "the tattooed ones".
• The tattoos were patterned by putting black powder where blood oozes out.
• Luzon is the capital of the government and principal settlement transferred to.
• Luzon is adjacent to China and Japan.
• The temperature is not invariable.
• Head of island warm/ interior mild.
• The seasons were opposite of those in Europe.
• Rains fall from June to September in the Islands.
• Some provinces winter or cold season from October to end of May.

Peoples

• Camarines is a large island of Luzon, with middle-sized natives.
• Similar in color to quince fruit.
• Both men and women have good features, very black hair, and scarce beards.
• They are intelligent, keen, quick-tempered, and resolute.
• The people live in the farm.
• Cagayan is in the Northern part and has the same kind of fortune as those in Camarines.
• Those of Manila are not natives, but immigrated, settled and peopled by the Malays.
• Some Luzon provinces are black in complexion.
• The men and women have kinky hair, not so tall in stature, clever with robust bodies and barbarians with very little mental capacity.
• They live in groups, roving through mountains and crags, moving due to weather on kaingins and hunting.
• The tribes cannot be safe, inclined to attack.
• Cagayan settled by natives of same complexion.
• They are more physically able.

Natives and Their Customs

• Dress before the Spanish came: natives wore clothes made of cangan fabric without collars.
• The men used red cloths, or colored blankets wrapped around waist and legs to cover private parts.
• Garters used on their legs.
• Zambales shave their heads.
• Women wear sayas or dresses with sleeves.
• Principal women use scarlet, silk, gold, heavy rings/necklaces.
• Hair tied w/ ribbon.
• After Spaniards, native men ceased gee-strings and wore trousers, hats.
• Headsmen wear dresses decorated with gold-braid.
• Women wore velvet shoes with gold trimmings.
• Both men and women prominent people.
• Clean and very neat.
• They would dye hair, used shampoo from bark of tree, used sweet oil, file even teeth and give teeth permanent black color.
• Young and old bathe their entire bodies.

Customs

• Pastime and occupation involved men doing work in the fields.
• Women work with the needle.
• Marriage women married or not so chaste.
• Men and women jealous or care about wives.
• Walking: slow dignify.
• Diet: meat of wild buffalo, sweet potatoes, bananas.
• Beverage: drip out coconut, palns very strong.
• Tuba when used is like water very medicine.
• Meetings/ sing/ drink.
• Weapons: Bow and arrow, spear, cover carasas.

Tools and Vessels

• Used spears for head four foot.
• Natives go after their adversaries and cut head, then hand in houses- show off/ vengence/ evildoers.
• After Spanish: Muskets, fort towers; Not refined.
• Vessels/rivers: Large Conoes, Baragay.
• The boats used were Lapis/Takapes/ Bancas.

Sailing

• Magellan Circumnavigate: spice in the east- weighed w/ gold controlled guranteed wealth.. Magellan, Spanish, Spain routes.
• Magellan set out for voyage, he never communion,